the Sketchbook Project

Okay, I am gathering my supplies, distressing my sketchbook and getting the inpsirations in order.  Today I will share the distressing of the pages. Personally I like the look of distressed paper, the aged, the torn, a bit of history.  So with this in mind I decided it would be loads of fun to pretend I was working on an old book-alas distressed pages.  I tea stained the pages, used brown inks, crupled some edges, and then dunked the whole thing in a tea bath then dried it out.  Phew, I am glad I didn't ruin it. Here it is if you are interested...How do you distress paper? PS To find out more about The Sketch book Project go to the link at the bottom of the page and click on it and it will take you there......

What Inspires You?

These "What inspires you?" posts are meant to get your creative brain clicking,and forming connections...Thats what they do for me anyway.  I am trying to come up with my theme for the scetchbook project..... so when I am trying to come up with a theme I search for inspiriations.  So these posts are a way of sort of showing you how I work..that is if you are interested.  I am always interested in what other artists look at , and where they find inspiration. What sparks your creative juices, what lights your fire...SO here are some vintage images that sparked my creative fire today as I go off into the studio to work on some collages for The Sketchbook Project..To learn more about the project scroll to the bottom of the page I have a link. Happy creating.....oh and by the way does anyone have any good books on artists creative inspriations they want to recommend?

What inspires you?

The craziest things will get my mind roving in new directions. Just take these pictures for example.  It is oil stains on concrete, but I see chinese calligraphy, modern art drip paintings, wall paper, banners, graphic tea staining, and wrapping paper....What do you see?  Look at other inspirations of artists, try out Lving the creative life,

art studios..... the way I work

I love my art studio, it is my reverie.  I am sure many of your have your own special places to create.  But creating can be a messy business. I don't know about you but I feel my studio is an organized mess. I have set it up in creative clusters.  I have a space for shipping, a place for boxes, a place for paints, for jewelry work, for soldering, for hammering, sculpture materials...So if you are interested here are some various shots of my creative clusters...here are some fun art studio books I love to read too.

Donkeys going to school? Only in far west Texas....

Ps a bit of a funny for you-true story.




We are driving to school on our bumpy dirt road and what do we see ahead but a guy running down the dirt road with his arms flailing up in the air, screaming for floppy, rose, and dusty….We stop and ask what up and he states he is missing his donkeys? Donkeys you say? We say we will look for them and to my amazement up ahead are three donkeys jogging down the dirt road with the man chsing them and now the police chasing them. What a site to wake up to in the am…you won’t see that in North Carolina…donkeys on the run…..xoMarie

oh the treasures you will find....

okay, when jaunting around New York's east end, you must stop by Antiques in Bridge Hampton.  One of my favorite spots, full of vintage, antique, southwestern treasures.  Take a peek for yourself. I even enclosed Barbaras card....

I just happen to love Ralph Lauren!

I was in East hampton over the last week, and Ralph Lauren just does it right.  The looks, the fabrics, the display....everything is just so yummy., and inspirational for me.  Here are some photos that I took, and some that I gathered from the web to share...You will see what I mean....